A Novel Method Based on Precipitation, Surface Evaporation, and Water Vapor Flux Divergence for Estimating the Continental Evaporation Recycling Ratio

Abstract The continental evaporation recycling ratio (ERR) measures the role of terrestrial evaporation in sustaining downwind precipitation and the reliance of terrestrial rainfall on land‐based moisture recycling. Accurate estimation of ERR can help identify regions with a strong dependence on the terrestrial water cycle, offering valuable implications for land use management. However, the existing techniques for calculating ERR at continental or global scales depend on the accuracy of simulations on complicated and underlying processes, which are difficult to conduct. To address this methodological gap, we propose a novel method that integrates precipitation, surface evaporation, and water vapor flux divergence, incorporating the microphysics scheme of clouds and precipitation. This method utilizes remote sensing data, including precipitation, evaporation, specific humidity, wind speed, water vapor, water content, and other variables, without relying on complicated simulation results. It features a simple structure and low computational cost. Using this approach, we map historical ERR from 1985 to 2014 to establish a baseline for spatial distributions and driving factors. To further validate the results from this study, we calculate the response of ERR to climate change under SSP5‐8.5 and SSP1‐2.6 scenarios for the near term (2024–2040) and long term (2081–2099), and then compare our results with other existing climate change studies. The comparisons demonstrate the robustness of our method. We conclude that the proposed method can offer an effective approach for quantifying ERR at continental or global scales.